Freaking out about airfare from newark to tampa!! HELP

[tanyanubin]

I've been waiting for it to drop a little, and it's just been going up, up, up! I can't believe how high it is now! I've got 4 tickets to buy, and it'll cost me $1,600. I've never had to pay even $1,000 before. Do you think it might go down? Or go even higher? The thing is, it's good that I waited because I have to change my cruise date from June 14 to March 15 because of my daughter's nursing school schedule. (I'm happy to be going sooner!) So if I had bought them a few weeks back at the lower price I would have had to change them anyway, sigh.... So, what do you guys think? Wait, or go ahead and spend the money now?

[firefly333]

Im in Dallas which has always been more expensive to fly out of for some reason. I was paying $300 plus years ago, so $1600 for 4 doesnt seem unreasonable today. NYers usually got extra good fares for some odd reason to Florida, never understood why they could fly so much cheaper than us when its about the same distance.

 

My friend flew to Florida from Seattle to meet me and paid less than I paid out of Dallas.

 

The price of $400 total per person sounds in line to me, but keep looking, maybe you can do better. You could drive with 4 and save some money.

[shipty2]

I wish I could get four flight for $1600!!!Last March we had to pay $1000 per person to go from Toronto to Miami .

 

I would say buy it now because that was the mistake I made. I waited thinking the price would go down.

[Yemaya]

I think it is a gamble either way - we booked quite a while ago and found it went down - I did not think it would because it was this Saturday and with it being Thanksgiving weekend I never thought they would go down but it did to like $59 per person and we paid a lot more than that. I am waiting next time until a lot closer to and see what happens but that is just my experience.

[tanyanubin]

Yea, that's what I'm thinking. wish there were some kind of discounts for airfares. Dont' want to drive...it's about 20 hours each way. Guess I'll just save the money on less expensive cabins. It's all good!

[firefly333]

It was about 24 hour drive for us when I drove from Dallas, so 20 hours doesnt sound bad to me lol.

 

We only had two people, so it was a toss up which costs more driving or flying. With 4 Id drive.

 

I think there is a train that comes straight down to close to the port. One couple on our group cruise took it to Ft. Lauderdale.

[98Charlie]

Right now you can book from EWR to TPA for $255 on Con tinental. March 14-22, 2008

 

Legend is sailing out of Tampa isn't it?

 

Charlie

[familyof4cruising]

You should check the above post.

 

The prices are just going to rise. Buy it now. It is a busy time of the year and airlines are cutting flights not adding.

 

Good Luck!

[tanyanubin]

yea, I could book it if I wanted to chance getting the plane back out of Tampa at 10am! That's cutting it too close, isn't it? Should't I get something 11:30 or later?

Charlie---you are so sweet to check for me!

[bbiggar]

I'm sure March being Spring break time and not to far out has something to do with the prices. March really isn't that far away and flights are filling up fast. Supply and demand.

[98Charlie]

yea, I could book it if I wanted to chance getting the plane back out of Tampa at 10am! That's cutting it too close, isn't it? Should't I get something 11:30 or later?

Charlie---you are so sweet to check for me!

Hey, no problem. Maybe another alternative is to come back on Monday. Our schedules are more flexible than many so we usually try to make the vacation one day longer.

 

Charlie

[jayscore]

I bought our tickets (MSP- MIA), (April, 2009) months ago, just as the prices were starting to leap. I paid $488 per person (non stop) at that time. I,ve watched the fares go as far as $628! Today, the price is $528. I'm still ahead of the game, but I wouldn't wager on the final price. (Now I'm praying my flight doesn't get canceled!) I would bite the bullet, and take what you can get now. Yes, the air fares truly suck, but what can we do? Look at the big picture, and decide if saving some bucks is worth the gamble.:o

[bigcraig]

Would I be correct in saying this is for 2 adults and 2 children? If yes you may want to consider getting fares on 2 going at a time or check flying into a nearby airport like MCO, SRQ or RSW and super shuttling to TPA.

If your travel plans have time something fun might be driving to auto train in Washington DC area and pick up the auto train to Sanford FL and driving an easy 2 hours to Tampa.

[rjpolly]

I think the flight prices are incredibly low right now, my brother got a one way return flight for out Feb cruise from Miami to Chicago for $84 non-stop thru American Airlines.

[MrBVR]

Is it possible to drive to another airport? Maybe BWI or JFK? Or how about flying into another airport close to Tampa and driving from there? The cruise we are heading out on we are flying out of Providence into West Palm renting a car from priceline and driving into Miami. The whole cost for 2 round trip tix and the car rental was about 450. What are the exact dates you are looking for? I am pretty good at finding good deals on flights.

[delta cruiser]

I just priced Delta out of JFK and it was $289 per person round trip, leaving on the 14Mar and returning on the 20Mar. Hope this helps

[jayscore]

I'm so sorry! I just checked the flight I mentioned above, and the rates changed! The E TA, has raised the price of the return flight. They are now charging a lot more for the return trip! What I stated, $528, is now actually $637 per person! I guess you really have to look at ALL the details of your flight plans! I'm truly sorry if my post misled anyone.:o

[HurricaneSally]

I just did a search on sidestep.com and they had flights leaving on the 13th for 249.00 per person.

[SNJCruzers]

We always travel the day before we cruise because you never know what might happen with delays when it comes to flying, whether it be mechanical or weather related. Look at other airports to fly out of that are within a 3 hour drive like JFK, PHL or BWI. If you can get something for under 275....book it. Good Luck!

[LemurCat]

Philadelphia to Tampa seems to be a pretty cheap, all things considered. We're looking at $200 round trip for the last week in February.

[SNJCruzers]

The 249.00 Continental flight leaves on the 22nd at 10:00, so you'll never make it. You can leave on friday at 320 pm and come back on the 22nd at 520 for only 319 including taxes on JetBlue. 1276 is cheaper than 1600 and all you need to add is one night at a hotel for friday, hopefully that also has free shuttles from the airport and to the cruiseport. Good luck

[zqvol]

I've been waiting for it to drop a little, and it's just been going up, up, up! I can't believe how high it is now! I've got 4 tickets to buy, and it'll cost me $1,600. I've never had to pay even $1,000 before. Do you think it might go down? Or go even higher? The thing is, it's good that I waited because I have to change my cruise date from June 14 to March 15 because of my daughter's nursing school schedule. (I'm happy to be going sooner!) So if I had bought them a few weeks back at the lower price I would have had to change them anyway, sigh.... So, what do you guys think? Wait, or go ahead and spend the money now?

 

I think the cheapest way for you might be to drive to either Philly or Long Island, or even Baltimore and fly Southwest to Tampa or even Orlando.

 

You can probably get all four down for about $1000.

 

GOOD LUCK

[Name game]

I would say wait a little bit and check the prices daily. That's what I did and I ended up seeing a round trip flight from Newark to Miami for $219 on Continental. I booked with American ($209) which was stupid because Continental would not have charged me for the first suitcase because I have a Continental credit card. Back to the original point - now the prices are way up, but they were also way up when I started looking. If you buy the tickets now and the prices go down, the airline will give you credit to use for a future flight booked within a year of original booking.

[98Charlie]

I would say wait a little bit and check the prices daily. That's what I did and I ended up seeing a round trip flight from Newark to Miami for $219 on Continental. I booked with American ($209) which was stupid because Continental would not have charged me for the first suitcase because I have a Continental credit card. Back to the original point - now the prices are way up, but they were also way up when I started looking. If you buy the tickets now and the prices go down, the airline will give you credit to use for a future flight booked within a year of original booking.

Checking frequently can be a key. We did a repositioning flying from CMH to SEA with the return from SFO (open jaw). DW checked every day, sometimes multiple times, and found the trip for just over $400 total for the 2 of us. Shop, shop, shop.

 

Charlie

[Slimpickins]

I just checked and got the same prices as 98Charlie. Non stop from Newark>Tampa>Newark was 255 pp. You could chose which was best for you in regards to departure times. The 11:25am flight was $15 more than the other choices.

 

Try this site:Cheapflights.com

 

Hope I dont get another spanking from the mods for the link :D